Shells and Hooves
by Storyboard Sketch
Summary: Leo watches from afar every night by spiritual meditation as a family that closely resembles his own yet is vastly different goes though their lives. AU stories from another world. R&R please! New Chapters coming!
1. Fear and Pain (interlude)

The silence of the ancient and abandoned catacombs beneath Manehatten's bustling streets was broken only by the steady drip of dirty water that slipped through the moss covered bricks from the maze of sewers one level above. Her own hoof steps, muffled by the cloth wrappings she kept over them, were barely even heard in the darkness of these lost tunnels trapped in time. Even then...her two hind hooves were making just enough noise, as light as falling leaves, to alert those beloved few ahead whom she was returning to. Her lavender mask's cloth trails brushed her back gently with every hushed step she took deeper into the cool darkness of this seemingly cursed and haunted labyrinth. The soft cut of fabric was only blocked by the cedar bo staff that sat patiently in its holder positioned across her spine, just in between her over sized cerulean wings. She raised a bandage covered hoof to drape the annoyingly playful satin back over her shoulder where it couldn't tease and tickle her over sensitive nerves. For each subtle touch of the lilac band made her fur stand on end with the thought of a possible enemy being just behind her with a kunai blade, ready to strike when it was simply something she had grown accustomed to having with her at all times. 

The mare blinked her emerald green eyes to adjust them as the faint yet fair gleam of candlelight was barely spotted just a few feet ahead. She absent mindedly flicked her chestnut tail to the side, perplexed over the sight of the candle's soft glow as it cast strange yet welcoming shadows over the cracked yet pearl white catacomb walls. The familiar voice of the young filly came to her alert ears with cracked sobs that reverberated off of the cold stones around her. The rustle of feathers was allowed as the pegasi slowly rounded the worn corner and gazed worriedly down at the small form of the ginger earth filly, the younger mare's hazelnut mane curling over what bit of her face wasn't concealed in her crossed arms which wrapped around her knees tightly as if trying to draw into a shell that she did not possess. 

"Star." A gentle voice filled with the love that only a sister could give made the smaller bipedal equine look up into the eyes of her sibling. "Is something wrong?" 

A poppy shaded hoof rose to wipe away tears from sapphire eyes, "Y-Yeah..." She rose shakily to her small hind hooves to leave, not wanting to trouble her already concerned elder sibling with something so petty. "I'm fine..." 

"Starcandy..." The slightly more serious tone stopped her in her cloth covered hoof steps. "Please tell me. I'm your sister...you can tell me anything." 

There was a still moment that hung in the air between the two teenage mares as the elder waited for her sensitive sister's response to her voice. It only lasted a second but to the sky colored pegasi it felt like hours before she caught sight of the turn of her sister's carrot colored mask as the tear filled eyes landed upon her. Knowing exactly what she was silently begging of her, the taller of the mutated mares opened her arms and slightly extended her large wings to either side of her. She held back the instinct to grunt as her breath was stolen away from her lungs when the tiny form of her sister slammed into her chest with a bone crushing embrace. The pegasus wrapped her caring arms around Star as the broken filly nuzzled her face into the crook of her sister's shoulder and neck. Slowly, they moved down to their knees as the apricot mask and the pegasus's fur were marked by tears shed by the young mare. 

"I'm...I'm sorry Story," Starcandy's voice was shaking, cracked like the tiles under her knees as she tried to find the nonexistent strength to speak. "I...I just..." 

"Shh..." The older mare smiled and gently rubbed her little sister's back with a caring hoof, smoothing the short fur as she waited for her sibling to regain the will to speak. "It's alright...I can wait until you want to talk." 

Storyboard had seen and treated Starcandy as her younger sister for as long as she could remember. They weren't related by blood per say...but when your reverted back into young foals along with two colts by a mutagen created by beastly changelings, that same unknown mutagen also changing your bodies into becoming bipedal, the four of you having forgotten who you used to be, and you're all raised by a giant mouse dad...it's hard not to become family after all those years of being hidden away from the dangerous overworld and only having each other for company in the damp, dark tunnels underground. 

"R-Remy and I were fighting..." As the soft whimper of Star's voice came out she rested her head on Story's cerulean shoulder. "I just...I wanted to make him smile but all he sees it as is annoying. I was just...teasing...no harm was meant." 

"Star," Story cautiously leaned back, gently making the filly sit up and brushing a long lock of hair out of the eyes of her sister. "What were you teasing him about?" 

"Y-You know that silly way he jumps when he sees one of the gazillion roaches down here?" The answer she gave her instantly made Story's small smile evaporate into thin air. "It's silly... I'm sure he has his reasons but... I would think that he would have gotten over that foalhood fear by now. I remember sensei said it went back to an argument you two had but I never really found out about much more than that. I was so much younger than you and our brothers when we mutated that I don't remember that day at all. Still, you never let the past get to you and I just wanted to get Remy to move forward too and-Mmmph!" 

Her mouth had suddenly been covered by a gauze wrapped hoof to get her to stop talking. Looking up into her sister's jade eyes she saw the sorrow and resurfacing pain that had been locked away and hidden deep in Story's soul for many...many years. Now, as it finally showed through the cracks, Star fell silent upon realizing what she was seeing and her own bloodshot eyes became concerned for her elder sister. 

"I know his fear seems irrational from an outside perspective," Story's voice was as soft as a trickling brook as she made a very hard decision. "But I have to confess something Starcandy..." 

"Hmm?" The orange filly blinked in interest and confusion, there was obviously far more to the story than her siblings and mentor had ever let on. 

"Truth is..." The lavender mask did little to hide the shame that now filled Story's face as she looked down for a brief moment. "I did let it get to me. Perhaps...a little too much. Back then Star...I can't say that I set the best example for you..."

* * *

_"Storyboard Sketch you get back here right now!" Master Squeak called out to the fleeting form of the little filly as she flew away into the tunnels outside of their home._

_She was too upset to follow his sharp commands and her tears blurred her normally falcon like vision too much to really pay attention to where she was flying to. All she knew was that she had to get out of the same room as Remy, and so she pumped her wings as hard as they would go until she encountered an abrupt dead end and was forced to land or crash into the stone which probably would've crushed her skull. So she curled up as small as she could into a corner, trying to become part of the cold stone around her but it brought no comfort to her now sore heart and burning muscles. Her tiny hollow bone frame was shaking like the ripples on the sewer water before her as her angry tears streamed from her stinging eyes._

* * *

"I can't remember how long I sat there for..." Story's eyes were just as vacant as the coffins in the walls around them as she recalled that horrible day. "Crying tears of anger...My fury at my own brother was getting the better of me, making me ignore sensei and my better knowledge. I had no idea how STUPID and SELFISH I was being that day until it was too late to change my actions..." 

* * *

_A terrified foal's scream snapped her back into cruel reality as Story recognized it as her older brother's voice. "Remy!"_

_Without a second thought she had taken to the cold night air once again, ignoring the harsh protests that her already spent back muscles were sending her. She darted over the grimy floors of the pipes until she found one of the covers to a drainage area had fallen through and deep down in the bottom, getting crawled over by dozens of dirt brown cockroaches and the rotten grate having fallen on top of him, was her red banded brother._

_"Remy!" The equally terrified pegasus filly called down as she hovered above the hole. "Are you okay?"_

_Her only response was a pained whimper and the sight of her brother clenching his eyes shut tightly as he moved away from the bugs as best he could, pushing away the heavy metal that had almost crushed him.._

_"Oh no..." Story gazed around her, franticly searching everywhere for something she could use to get him out of the roach infested hole before something worse happened. "S-Stay there! SENSEI!"_

_She didn't think her mouse father could hear her this far away from the lair but she had to try. A sliver of brown caught her leaf green eyes and she turned to see a band of rope that some workers had left down here before they had left for the night. Thinking quickly the little filly grabbed the coils of mud covered hemp and tied one end tightly around a sturdy steel pipe before darting back to her wounded brother and tossing the other end of the length down to him._

_"Come on Remy!" She shouted to him encouragingly, poorly trying to hide her fear as she held part of the main segment of rope tightly between her hooves. "Just grab on! I'll pull you out of there! I promise I'll get you out!"_

_After a brief moment of hesitation on his part she saw a pair of sandy brown hooves clamp down onto the rope she had tossed into the hole. Instantly she strained her small wings even more than ever to pull her brother up and out of the gap in the floor. Looking down she saw cream colored paws lifting Remy out the rest of the way, brushing away the cockroaches that had hitched a ride on the colt's buckskin fur._

_"Sensei!" Story hastily landed and the two foals threw their arms around their father as their tears of fear stained his brown robe._

_Without a word, Master Squeak took up both of his frightened children one in each arm and quietly carried his sobbing children back to their home. When the blue filly looked up at her brother she gasped when she saw the crimson trickle of blood running down his chest. The terrible gash was positioned just over where his heart would be, it was bleeding badly and was probably infected from those bugs that had climbed all over him now. Story began to sob all over again...she had caused this._

* * *

"...that...that injury..." Star was stunned, her eyes wide as ponds and her mouth open like a carp but she couldn't bring herself to finish. 

"Yes. That is where Remy's scar came from." Story closed her own eyes for a moment as she remembered it. "Every time I see it I go back to that day...but not to the incident that caused it, but rather to what happened that came afterwards." 

* * *

_"Story, you can come in now." Master Squeak's voice was patient and gentle as he called his daughter into Remy's room to join him. "He's fallen asleep. It's alright..."_

_The small winged pony looked in at her father for a worried moment before slowly entering and going over to her brother's lower bunk. Their room back then was simple, twin bunk beds that their sensei had made for the four foals. Remy was fast asleep underneath his blanket on his lower bunk as Story peered over the edge of the wooden frame at him. The sight of the fresh bandages over her brother's heart and face where he had gotten scratched by the stone when Remy had fallen was enough to cause another wave of water to come from the depths of Story's fragile soul. She clenched her emerald eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears as her shoulders shook and choking, shuddering breaths were the only sound she made. The tender touch of hand-paws drawing her into a hug made the dam break and she broke down into uncontrollable sobs that marked her sensei's robe._

_"It's okay..." His voice was quiet as he did his best to soothe his daughter's fears. "It's alright... Let it out Storyboard... it's over now."_

_"I...I c-can't...I-I cou-couldn't..." Her voice came out between the shaking breaths and the choking sobs as she buried her face in the musty smelling fabric of his robe. "S-sensei! I-If o-only... I was... s-smarter... th-this w-wouldn't have..."_

_"No Storyboard," Master Squeak stroked her chocolate brown mane to try and calm the distraught filly. "This wasn't your fault..."_

_"N-No sensei!" She pulled back to look up at his deep amber eyes with her own drenched jade ones. "It __**is **__my fault!"_

_He blinked at hearing her yell like that before the pegasus's eyes closed once again to choke out more words._

_"R-Remy and I w-w-were fighting in the d-dojo after training..." She shivered violently as she took in a large breath so she could attempt to keep talking. "I...I started that fight...b-b-but h-he...he was coming...to a-apologize! Remy was in that tunnel because of __**ME**__! It's my fault! R-Remy...sh-shouldn't have g-gotten hurt!"_

_"Storyboard, this was a horrible accident," His tone was a bit firmer as he tried to get his eldest daughter to understand. "But it is NOT your fault!"_

_"I-I wish th-that I h-had fallen instead!" She choked out, her pain of feeling responsible was too much for her heart._

_Squeak's eyes went wide at hearing that he made Storyboard look him directly in the eyes as he responded, hoping his slight panic wouldn't show though. "For the love of the celestial sisters Storyboard! I almost lost one of my children today! I am not about to risk losing you!"_

_He touched his forehead to her's, their ears drooping slightly in unison and Story's gasps for air being the only thing that broke the eerie silence for a short while._

_"I know how easy it is to blame yourself for something that's happened to those you love...and things might not ever be the same because of it. However you have to remember you're not the only one who's hurt by this. We have to stick together or we'll all fall apart...and I..." A new set of tears joined Story's watermarks on his robes as his own eyes flowed with them. "I can't do this all on my own! I need you to be strong too Storyboard! Your siblings need you to be strong too... especially Starcandy. Your sister doesn't understand why her brother can't come play right now, I need you to promise me you'll be there for her and Hawk."_

_Slowly the sobs lessened enough for her to sniffle like a kitten and answer him. "I...I p-promise sensei..."_

_"Promise him what?" A drowsy Remy looked up at the two of them as he tried to sit up._

_"Remy!" Story climbed up onto her brother's bunk to hug him tightly, afraid of nearly losing him again. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

_As he held his crying sister Reminisce could only listen to those same words that he should've been saying as they repeated over and over again for what felt like hours until their father convinced Story to come away and let the brown colt rest._

* * *

"REMY!" The sound of his younger sister's voice made the red masked ninja look up from his book only to be tackled to the ground by the ginger earth pony. 

"S-Star?" He blinked in surprise as he hugged her back and she nuzzled into his fur. "W-what's-" 

He stopped when he saw Story calmly looking at the two of them with that same look she always got when she had told someone one story in particular. He relaxed and gave his taller sister a knowing look, then held Star tighter as Story turned away from them and returned to bedrooms. As she passed by him, Hawk opened an eye to look at her as he meditated in the middle of the main room. Deciding it was best not to bother his sister he closed the eye again and said nothing. 

* * *

_We all still have a long way to go before we can be the best team we can be. Even I have been obsessed with learning everything I could, repairing, building, ANYTHING that would see to it that something like that would never happen again. Still... we can never move forward until we let the past go however we can't forget it either. Because it makes us who we are...the guardians of each other's lives._


	2. First Meeting

**Now we can get into the real story. Sorry for the delay everyone but here we go! Let's follow Leonardo and dive right into this other world!**

* * *

He had chosen to meditate on his own that day, after all that had happened lately he needed time to himself. The moment he entered the lotus position and closed his eyes, Leonardo Hamato sensed something else calling out to him from another plane of existence. He was used to these feelings by now, ever since they had entered the Kraang's main dimensional travel network he had been getting these moments. He knew they were always coming to him for a reason. Whether it was to teach him something or show him the promise of a potential future, he could never escape allowing the visions that came with them.

_"Alright..."_ He took a slow breath as he allowed himself to fall into the spiritual vortex that would show him what he needed to see. _"What's the multiverse want to train me in today?"_

It didn't look like anything at first, just darkness...the endless abyss of possibility that he had come to be so familiar with. Then came the comfort of the soft loops of carpet fiber beneath his feet, the delicate scent of warm green tea freshly poured out of the kettle, and the embrace of a place he was always welcome to be in...home. Opening his spirit's eyes he found himself in Splinter's dojo, the tree at the back standing just as tall as ever but something felt off. Leonardo looked around the space he found himself in, the carpets were as worn and gentle as ever beneath his toes and the sunlight shining down from the moss covered skylight above him was warm on his face. He closed his eyes for a moment to take in the warmth, before turning his attention to the rest of the dojo. The weapons stands on either side were standing as proud as they were on the day that _sensei_ had build them with some help from a toddler Donatello. The walls of brick were slightly cleaner than he normally saw them, no longer grey but a smooth white with what looked like tiny gems in the mix of cement and clay. Although he guess it was probably shards of round glass or marbles that had been added in to make the ghost station more lovely for the eyes when it had been built. Now, it was just a nice touch that he wished he could see more often in the underground tunnels...maybe after he got back Donnie could make something that would make the stone act like that for April's room in the lair. As his eyes turned upon the shrine that he knew so well, he was taken aback by the fact that...instead of his beloved lost mother, Tang Shen, staring back at him with a baby Miwa in her arms, there was a sight that he would never have imagined if he wasn't there right now...even if only in spirit.

The center of focus was a mare who's appearance took Leo a while to stop looking at for a long time, for her fur was as dark as the night sky her mane and tail more like a mist or a haze of the deep blue sky when the moon rose and darkness descended upon the world...even the flecks that shone within the fog seemed to twinkle like the stars would if it had been a photo of the night sky. From her forehead and through her forelock protruded a spiraling horn that glinted in the light, it was about half a foot long and the point looked extremely sharp. Her eyes held an air of familiarity that he knew all too well from the photo that he had known to sit here in this one's place. Her adornments consisted of , a collar, a crown, and all were forged from a sharp black metal with glimmering flecks under the coat of lacer. On her back, two beautiful navy feathered wings were folded neatly at her side like a bird. Her equally dark blue eyes gazed up at him with wisdom and love, just like Tang Shen's always did in the photo on the shrine at home.

He leaned in to get a better look at the photo but the familiar sound of footsteps entering the dojo made him jump back away from the shrine, turning to the doorway with his hands instantly at his sides as if he had been caught doing something wrong. He had forgotten for a moment that he couldn't be seen anyway...not by any normal person anyway. However, what met his eyes wasn't the normal sight of his _sensei_ entering the dojo to lecture him about respecting the fallen nor was it the welcome trio set of his brothers when they came in to "check on" his meditation as always.

More equines, but these four clearly mutated just like Leo and his family had been, entered the room as they talked amongst themselves. They walked upright on their hind legs just like a human would only instead of hands and feet, they had only hooves at the ends of their limbs not that it seemed to deter their movements in anyway. Their eyes were smaller than the one in the photo too, hidden slightly behind the different colored masked they wore, but they were clearly more human than horse in their movements and the fact they could talk in the first place. Leonardo knew who each one of them SHOULD have been by locating the separate colored masks on each of their faces and the distinct weapon holders on their backs. However, there was one very big difference between this family and his own...only two of them were boys while the other two would be his sisters if he had been brought up in this family.

For a split moment, hope soared in his chest that one of them MIGHT be his sister Miwa. That maybe the Splinter here had saved her from a life of misery and hatred and brought her up with him and his brothers. However, that light faded when he recounted the number of siblings in the room...four. That was okay though, they were all still his family...right?

"Okay so," The one in the blue mask faced the rest of his team. "Since _sensei_ is out right now we might as well get some more training in. Let's break off into pairs as always. I think we all already know groups but Remy...try NOT to destroy Story's bo staff this time."

"I make no promises bro." The smirk that came from the brown one just screamed Raph's personality, but there was also a gentleness in his eyes that Leo rarely ever saw from his brother.

He moved closer to the group as they broke into teams to examine them in more detail and learn more about this alternate Hamato family. Of course the first one who caught his attention was his double, a tall tan colt with a light brown mane and tail. Other than the fact that this one was a different species of mutant animal than Leonardo not much else had changed it seemed. His eyes were exactly the same shade of blue as Leo's, his mask was cut so precisely the same that Leo had to touch his own on his face to make sure it was still there. Still, looking at his double here the colors of the wraps and the striking white of the bandages around his hands...no...hooves, were the same as Leo's. He and his brothers had always kept their wraps separate from each others, shell... even April had her own set sitting somewhere in Donnie's first aid kit. Not that he was ready to show them to her yet since they were yellow like her headband and the scientist just thought they looked weird. Leo's were a light brown, Mikey's were a darker shade of brown, Raph's were almost a dark grey sometimes, and Donnie's were green...Leo still was not sure what the point of choosing that color was. In fact...as he cast a glance around at all four of the equines around him, their wraps were properly colored to each of them in turn.

Leo moved aside as a ginger pony, the smallest of the bunch, was thrown past him and onto the ground. She groaned as she sat up rubbing her head that now surely had a bump on it somewhere under the waves of reddish-brown hair. The bright orange mask that wrapped around her face over her bright blue eyes was tied into a large bow behind her head and it stood out only slightly from her tangerine fur, but it still informed Leo that she was this world's incarnation of his youngest brother. He couldn't help but smile as she made an angry pout face at her brother for a second for not actually practicing and going through the motions before tossing her over his shoulder.

"How do you do that every time Hawk?" She wanted to know so she could put her aniki on his tail some time.

"That's something you have to learn and it was a nice try Star," Leo's counterpart crouched slightly to look at his little sister and make sure she was alright. "Let's try that again but properly."

"Alright..." The jokester sighed then grinned widely. "As long as your katanas are content to give me my nunchucks back!"

"Hmm?" Hawk looked down at his blade which had imbedded itself in the wooden practice weapon. "Oh sorry 'bout that."

As Leo's double helped the other "Mikey" to her hooves she commented that: "Tech-head over there is supposed to be the only one who flies around here." which made the turtle change his attention to the other pair that were fighting and...admittedly, lasting longer than his siblings normally did against each other.

He looked to Raph's double first out of the two, the one that was called Remy apparently...Leo couldn't help but wonder what that nickname was a shortened version of. Still his skill with his sai was the same as ever but how he was holding them with hooves baffled Leonardo to no end. He just couldn't figure out what invisible force was holding the weapons to Remy's flat appendages, cause they were clearly being held properly...well, as much as one could hold them when the person is a mutant horse, and still they were only being held on a flat surface. It was hurting Leo's head to even try to figure that out so he switched his focus to the hot head's appearance. A sandy brown coat with a much darker brown mane and tail tipped with white at the ends of a few tufts was the overall look of this member of the family. When his brother's equal looked up, Leo took an alarmed step back at seeing the striking red color of Remy's eyes that were an even brighter crimson than his mask. It was truly an intimidating thing to see upon first viewing but...then again, Donnie's warm brown eyes sometimes looked red if the light hit them just right. So maybe Leo just wasn't expecting to see that color of eyes in a Raphael during his spiritual travels. Leo also felt the bitter-sweet sting of familuarity once he caught sight of a thin diagonal patch of pale skin on the strongest's chest over which the fur had stopped growing. It was a match for the notch that was missing in Raph's plastron...something no one like talking about was how he got it, but here...the turtle couldn't help but wonder about the story behind Remy's scar.

Leo moved back to a safer distance to look at the tallest of the siblings...no, he did a double take, HIS double was the tallest and not Donnie's. After a moment of surprise he understood why, she was a female. Of course she was going to be smaller, but she was almost the same height as Remy at least.

"Story...I'll say it only once." That tone in Remy's voice told Leo he knew what was coming. "Drop the staff, and no one gets hurt."

"You say that every time Rem," The blue mare huffed lowing her staff slightly in disbelief of her brother. "And even THEN you hurt me."

"Yeah," Remy tilted his head to the side, considering. "But...still it was less than I normally would have."

"Riiiiight..." Donnie's counterpart rolled her eyes, distinctly reminding Leo more of April than Donnie.

He knew how this was going to end so he looked at the genius in more detail now that he wasn't saving his head from getting whacked with a stick. She was lanky like Donnie, thinner though and more fine boned than her siblings. When she turned around he saw why she was naturally so thin, on her back...the only one who had them...wings. Gorgeous, fully feathered wings the color of turquoise along with the filly's fur. Leo stared at the pegasus that would be his sister in awe of the sheer shattering of reality he felt. He thought that such creatures only existed in legends, but then again he had just seen that photo of an equally strange equine on the shrine so he couldn't play disbeliever right now. She kept the fragile limbs pinned behind her as she fought so they wouldn't get broken by her elder brother.

Story held her bo staff in the crook of her wrists where she had a good grip on it, he saw her vibrant green eyes flash like lightning up at her brother when he took her staff from her.

"...don't you dare." She scowled at him knowing that smirk on his face all too well.

"Come on, I already broke one yesterday, Sensei would kill me if I broke another so soon." Remy huffed before knocking her off of her feet and on to the ground, the grin spreading a bit more as he pinned her with her own staff. "But even you should get used to having your weapon used against you."

Leo noticed that Story was slowly extending a wing before quickly bringing it up to knock Remy off of her and take her staff back now being the one to pin her brother since his sai had fallen from his grip and were now out of his reach.

"I think I prefer keeping it in my own hooves thanks." The mare smiled smugly at her brother.

"WOO! Nice job ane-san!" Little Star tackled into her sister with a hug from the side, nuzzling into her fur."That's the first time you managed to pin Remy!"

"Heh, _Anata no imōto ni kansha_." Hearing the full phrase of Japanese from the elder sister brought a smile to Leonardo's face along with the pride of seeing her beating what was Raphael's equivalent in this world.

Remy grumbled a bit as he was getting to his hooves to receive a pat on the shoulder from Hawk and a few reassuring words of Japanese that the tough guy just rolled his eyes at before going to retrieve his sai from where ever they went off to. Leo remembered this day with his siblings himself, granted that...Donnie had gotten thrown on his shell but it was mostly the same. He stood back slightly expecting the tap of wood on carpet from this world's equivalent of Splinter, but it never came. He recalled Hawk mentioning the fact that their sensei was out right now and probably wouldn't be back for some time. Leo couldn't help but frown slightly in his ghostly state as he observed the four teenagers in front of him, he had really wanted to see what Splinter looked like in this world.

There was the distinct sound of an alarm from the kitchen and the members of the equine team froze, their faces looking mortified.

"STAR CANDY!" The strongest and the wisest glared at the youngest cause she was obviously in charge of cooking here too.

"AAAHHH!" The ginger yelled at the same time they did before darting out as fast as her two hooves could carry her. "It was supposed to be spicy! Not ON FIRE!"

"Story! Get the fire extinguisher!" The red clad horse pointed at his sister before heading out and yelling at his youngest sibling again. "THIS is why we have sensei help you!"

The pegasus grabbed the red cylinder before dashing out of the dojo herself, yelling something along the lines of telling her sister to be more careful with her cooking. However, one of the team members remained behind with an amused smile plastered across his muzzle. He turned around and looked around the room as if he was looking for something, but his eyes landed upon the photo on the shrine. A shadow went across Hawk's features as he approached the shrine, gazing down at the smiling mare in the picture.

"We miss you _kaasan_." Hawk gently touched the photograph with the end of his hoof. "I promise...we will find you."

Leo came closer upon hearing the Japanese word for 'mother', he looked at the equine in the picture as Hawk was called out of the room by his siblings' shouts. Leo blinked, he had thought that he wasn't at home at all when he had seen the equine siblings and this photo but now that he was taking a closer look he realised how wrong he had been. He was home, those were his siblings and this mare was Tang Shen...or someone that the ninjas of the lair could proudly call 'mother'. From what he had seen, she most likely had a different name but... the basic facts remained the same. Family had been lost and it drove the children forward. Leonardo smiled and he bowed before this shrine.

"Thank you for letting me meet them. It has been an honor." He wished he knew her name but that would be for another time as he released the reality bonds that he had held in place.

The shouts of the brothers and their sisters faded away as Leo opened his eyes in the dojo that he knew, instantly turning his attention to Tang Shen's photo. His mother was always watching them from where she was now, so he smiled as he pictured the same thing happening for those young ninja that he had just seen. Their mother was watching them from somewhere beyond the moon, and that was enough for Leo to know that he would have to see them again sometime. Family was family, even under the strange changes in circumstance. He chuckled as he tried to picture a conversation with the siblings he had just seen.

"Sisters huh? Heh...this will be interesting."


End file.
